Dowels of various types are known in the art. Such devices are typically used in the furniture industry for joining the various components of a furniture assembly. Dowels are used in other industries as well, for example, dowels may be used to join landscaping timber. During construction, a dowel is driven into an opening, such as a circular shaped bore, of one of the furniture components that comprise the assembly. The second furniture component to be connected to the first furniture component is also provided with an opening for the dowel. The opening in the second furniture component is aligned with the opening in the first furniture component. The dowel that is mounted to the first component is then inserted and driven into the opening in the second component. Pressure may be applied to the two components when the dowel is being driven into the opening in the second component. Since typically the diameter of the dowel is greater in size then the diameters of the openings, the dowel is held in the openings by the frictional forces exerted on the dowel's outer sidewalls by the inner sidewalls of the openings in the two components.
However, existing dowels known in the art have some inherent disadvantages. One of the disadvantages with existing dowels is that, when inserting the dowel in the openings of the adjoining components, a high pressure must be applied to overcome the frictional force which acts on the contact surface between the outer wall surface of the dowel and the inner wall surface of the opening and acts opposite to the dowel's insertion direction. As a result, when the dowel is inserted into the openings, an undesirable deformation of the opening's inner wall surface may occur. This deformation may impair the connection of the dowel with the component. Further, if the dowel experiences extreme stress the dowel may be damaged and may break. Safety issues are also a concern, if the stresses on the dowel are such that the dowel splits into more than one piece, the dowel may break or splinter and cause injure to the user.
A further drawback of known dowels and their use occurs when a dowel is coated with a glue or adhesive material and inserted into a hole in a piece of wood for example. Because of the tight fit and because the glue tends to create a seal, as the dowel is pushed into the hole, air pressure builds in the hole and tends to push the dowel back out of the hole. This prevents the dowel from being fully inserted into the hole, and thus causes the furniture components to separate. Also during insertion of the dowel, a portion of the glue material is scrapped off the sides of the dowel, while another portion of the glue material builds up in the bottom of the hole. Thus, there is a need for an improved dowel connection system that overcomes these disadvantages and drawbacks of the known dowel connection systems.